Feodoric's Vampire Interview - A brief fanfic for my own fun
by gd1w
Summary: I'd wished for a bit for vampires that were something that a person would want to become with few drawbacks. This is mostly just a dialogue for fun.


On a drawbridge of hard light in front of a castle made from reinforced alloys a man named Feodoric waited to be permitted entry for his audition. He had been informed that he was to be given a reward regardless of the outcome of the audition and possibly both rewards depending on his decision.

The doors to the front of the castle slid open with no sound and an hovering green arrow made a silent invitation for him to enter. Feodoric recognized it as illusory magic, but somehow without a projector source or line of sight to the caster. Upon entering the castle he immediately found himself transported before a man sitting on a simple chair of carved wood in front of a plain rectangular wooden table. The man gestured towards another chair which moved outwards to allow him a seat. "Have a seat. My name is Smee and I will be conducting the interview to determine your eligibility."

Feodoric sat down in the unusually comfortable wooden chair. "Firstly, what do you know so far about Elders?" asked Smee.

"Just what I've heard from some stories, such as that you were formerly referred to as vampires." replied Feodoric.

"Well, I've heard quite a few of those stories so I think we'll structure this as a quasi question and answer session." said Smee "The term vampire comes from the word vam meaning take and the word pyre meaning blood. It has to do with how we channel magical energy. As you likely know, magical energy must be channeled through living objects as a medium to give it shape. In our case, we must use our blood as a proxy to use magic."

"So you're not alive then?" asked Feodoric.

"It would be more accurate to think of us as magical cyborgs." Smee replied. "Our bodies are animated by blood magic rather than positive energy in the case of living creatures or negative energy in the case of undead. Our hearts are the closest semblance to living tissue in our bodies. The heart of an Elder regulates their blood and allows it to keep them functioning as well as permitting their blood to be used in magic."

"I'd heard that if a wooden stake was driven through your heart you would be destroyed." Feodoric said "Is that true?"

"Actually, the destruction of our heart would be fatal to us by any means." Smee replied. "In the distant past our kind had a stigma to them due to some unwise decisions on our membership and the process for becoming an Elder. In some cases the people used whatever they had on hand and thus it was likely narrated that a wooden stake was the best way to kill one of our number. Although this is not an uncommon weakness as the destruction of the heart is usually fatal in most living things."

"Are you vulnerable to silver? The sun? Garlic? Holy water? Holy symbols?" Feodoric asked inquisitively.

"Not in the way you are likely thinking with regards to the first two." replied Smee "As for the rest, not at all. We have an improved ability to percieve light over ordinary members of our respective species by approximately ten percent. This means that bright sunlight can be slightly disorienting for a newly transformed Elder. Silver is generally reflective and thus it is similarly problematic, but no great weakness. As for garlic, all of our senses still function and garlic is not terribly appealing on the breath. As I related earlier, we are not undead, but the stories of the past did occasionally believe that to be the case. Interestingly, in the case of holy symbols it was more related to the few times that other magic users were present and used enchanted holy symbols to amplify some of their magic. This is similar in principle to how some magic users have used staves or wands."

"You mentioned a stigma earlier that applied to Elders. What is the nature of it?" asked Feodoric.

"In the past, we were far more willing to grant this transformation to any and all who asked." Smee replied. "Unfortunately, we discovered that without the proper use of certain magics to transform the mind some of our number would eventually lose their sanity as the years passed. We quickly developed such a magic collaboratively, but we had to help destroy a few of the Elders whom others could not defeat. It is for this reason in fact that we do not allow any Elder less than 1000 years of age who has not mastered this additional transformation grant the status of Elder to another. Furthermore, as you already know, we carefully evaluate the memories and actions of any candidate before we perform the transmutations on them."

"So what else should I know about the mythology and truths of Elders based on your experience?" asked Feodoric.

"There are three key disadvantages to being an Elder and a few myths I'll discuss" replied Smee. "We do not have any weakness to running water, but we are not naturally buoyant because we don't breathe. We don't go onto private property out of respect, but if you have a very good reason for doing so there's no reason that being an Elder would prevent you from doing so. We do cast shadows and reflections as you can see with regards to my shadow at least, but with magic it is possible to mask them. We also don't have fangs any more than members of our respective former species did. That myth has to do with Elders who bit their lips to draw blood for their magic. Also, you can clearly see that I am not pale in complexion. Such paleness only occurs when an Elder uses their magic with extreme frequency before their blood can be replenished by their heart. You can use the blood of others to perform magic, but for longer lived Elders it becomes largely unnecessary. This limitation of using blood as a medium in magic is the most significant disadvantage of being an Elder. However, an Elder will naturally become more talented with blood magic as they live longer to the point where they can use a single molecule repeatedly and their heart will become so efficient that it will far outpace this reduced usage. As I discussed earlier, we have a visual sensitivity to light, but that can be overcome with sunglasses or simple magic if desired. The last disadvantage is something of a lingering social stigma that has disappeared for the most part and instead transformed into a form of reverence. As a precaution, some of the longer lived Elders have devised a way to create phylactery to allow them to reform themselves after what would ordinarily be their destruction. However, this precaution is now taken due to the role that some of us take as protectors against more serious threats to our world."

"None of that sounds too bad, but how does the transformation work?" asked Feodoric.

"Most of the process is fairly simple for a natural user of blood magic except the mental transmutation." replied Smee. "The tranformation will simply alter your body to function using blood magic and to continually improve itself in a process similar to a living spell. In case you were unaware, a living spell has something similar to sentience that allows it to adapt over time."

"Couldn't someone alter that spell then?" Feodoric asked worriedly.

"It would actually be more difficult for a magic user to alter this magic than the positive energy that sustains you now." replied Smee. "Now are their any other concerns you have about becoming an Elder."

"None come to mind." said Feodoric.

"In that case, if you will follow me I will allow you to choose your reward from my treasury and then we will begin the memory analysis portion of this process."

Feodoric and Smee sat up from the table and Feodoric followed Smee further into the castle.


End file.
